Such is the message that Jiminy the
Cricket delivers to Pinocchio. Even if
we don’t wish upon stars, star light does have a certain aura about it. Ancient mariners looked to the stars,
especially the North Star to find their way in the night. One of the founders of my denominational
tradition, Barton Stone, spoke of unity being our “polar star.” It was, he suggested, our guiding
principle. In our modern day cities, it’s
much more difficult to see the stars.
Only the brightest and biggest can pierce through the light that pollutes
the night sky, but in the ancient world, without the presence of artificial
light, you could see into the heavens and perceive the movements of the stars,
and perceive in them guidance for life.

The image of the light shining into
the darkness is a key biblical theme. It’s
assumed that without the presence of God darkness reigns on earth, but the good
news is that light does shine and that if we’re perceptive we can follow the
star to God’s righteousness. Indeed, we
too can become lights in the darkness by reflecting into the world the light
that is God.

It’s Epiphany Sunday, and the time
has come to pull down the last of the Christmas decorations, and move on into
God’s vision for the world. Epiphany declares
that the darkness of this world cannot extinguish the light of God. The promise of the light is found in the
reading from Isaiah, it is picked up in Ephesians, where the apostle declares
that to him has been given the plan of God to shed the light of God on the
Gentiles. And of course, there is
Matthew’s story of the Magi, who come to the side of the true king, guided by
the star in the sky.

The word from Isaiah is a timely
one. This third rendition of the
Isaianic vision emerges after the end of the exile. Now living under Persian dominion,
disillusionment has set in. The people
are frustrated and despairing that a better day might come. In words that seem appropriate for our age,
when we seem unable to break through the malaise of our current situation, when
hope seems to be little more than a wish upon a star, Isaiah speaks words of
hope and guidance. “Arise, Shine! Your light has come; the Lord’s glory has
shone upon you” (vs. 1 CEB). There is
light shining in the darkness, guiding us forward through the night. In a word that the church needs to hear, the
prophet declares that “nations will come to your light and kings to your
dawning radiance” (vs. 5 CEB). As pastor
of a small church, whose influence in the world seems negligible, I hear in
this a word of empowerment. Don’t be
discouraged. Don’t hang your head. Instead lift up your eyes and behold the
radiant light of God shining into the world in and through these humble
servants of God. Yes, the opportunity is
there to proclaim the Lord’s praises.
The times are difficult. We jump
from one fiscal cliff to the next; we grieve the loss of life at an exurban
school as well as urban streets; wars continue on unabated. The darkness and the despair seek to consume
us, but we needn’t be afraid. We have
more than a star to wish upon. We can
draw strength from the radiance of God that shines brightly into our world.

The word from Ephesians is a
powerful one. Paul may not be the author
of this letter – his authorship long in dispute – but the image of a letter
emerging from prison is an important one.
Think of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” a letter
that brought light into darkness, revealing in the hearts and minds of people
who claimed to be followers of Jesus their own darkness. This letter speaks of a secret plan, which
the apostle has received by revelation.
The secret plan is simple – God had determined from of old to shine the
light of grace upon the Gentile world.
The word of grace was not only given to the Jews, but to the world as a
whole. Earlier generations may not have
realized this, but there were, of course, hints (consider Isaiah 60). The apostle has been charged with sharing this
good news “about the immeasurable riches in Christ.” Consider the liturgical context of this
word. Isaiah speaks of “the sea’s abundance”
that will be “turned over to you; the nations’ wealth will come to you.” This word of giftedness from the Hebrew Bible
precedes Matthew’s vision of Magi coming to bring to the young Jesus (maybe
more toddler than baby by this time) gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. Isaiah simply speaks of gold and incense. But here is a word that connects with the
vision inherent in both Isaiah’s vision and that of Matthew – “God’s purpose is
now to show the rulers and powers in the
heavens the many different varieties of his wisdom through the church” (vs. 10
CEB). This is an important word – the wisdom
of God that will guide the world is to be revealed in and through the
church. This raises an important
question – what role does the church (the body of Christ) have in the world? Does this suggest a public role, a
transformative role? And if so, how
should this be lived out? We talk today
about being missional, about living out from the Missio Dei (mission of God).
Does this not fit that message?
Does it not speak to the role of the church being that of a light
shining in the darkness, and doing so because the church has “bold and
confident access to God through faith in [Christ]” (vs. 12).

We’ve been waiting for this moment
for some time. The crèches are begging
to have the “three kings” added to the mix.
In our Christmas vision, we merge Matthew and Luke together and bring
the magi into Luke’s scene, but such is not the biblical vision. These are separate visions of reality and
need to be heard on their own terms. For
Matthew, it is important to connect the Jesus reality with that of Israel’s. Jesus fulfills, often allegorically, the
prophetic visions – like that of Isaiah 60.
Magi come, following a star, seeking to find the newly born “king of the
Jews.” Who are these magi – the three
kings of our imagination? Most assume
that the persons envisioned here are Zoroastrian priests who come from the land
of Persia – the land that once ruled over this region of Judah. They have seen in the stars, signs of
something important occurring. Indeed,
they see a particular star (comet, meteor, whatever), that serves as a portent
that God is at work in the world. They interpret
this, according to Matthew, as a sign that a new king has been born in
Judea. Discerning this truth, they
decide to bring gifts – in Isaianic fashion.
They bring the gold and the incense.
How many Matthew doesn’t say, even if the carol suggests three (based on
the number of gifts). They go to Herod,
who is a rather despotic tyrant of a vassal king, a man so jealous of his power
that he is willing to kill family to protect his throne. No rival will be allowed, not even a small
child. Herod wasn’t the first and won’t
be the last tyrant to dispose of any potential rivals. Herod might be despotic he is also cunning,
so in Matthew’s account, he plays along with them, asking when and where the
star appeared, and then he turns to his religious advisors, who suggest that a
prophetic vision (Micah 5), places the messianic birth in Bethlehem. Now for Herod this is important news, because
Bethlehem is the Davidic city. Herod
might be King of the old region of Israel, but he doesn’t have legitimacy. He’s not from the Davidic line – he was in
fact an Idumean who married into the Maccabean line, and they weren’t Davidic
either. The true hope, then, was for the
restoration of the Davidic line. In Matthew’s vision the child born in
Bethlehem, is the embodiment of this promise.
Armed with Herod’s revelations, the Magi head for Bethlehem, finding the
Holy Family in a house (not a manger) in Bethlehem. They fall to their knees before him, in
essence declaring their allegiance to his prospective reign. They come bearing tribute for the new
king. In the ancient world tribute –
riches were brought by vassals to the Lord as a sign of their allegiance. We
needn’t, at this point, take this to mean worship in the sense that they were
acknowledging Jesus to be divine, but they were acknowledging him as God’s
chosen vessel for extending the reign of God in the world. They do so, not reluctantly, but with
joy. This is important news, because
normally submission to the rule of another doesn’t come with joy, but here it
comes as good news. It is, as the
Ephesian letter suggests, as is true of Isaiah’s, that God’s purpose is being
revealed. God has a universal vision of
peace and joy. The Magi stand in as
representatives of the Gentile world who will give their allegiance to this
King who emerges from Israel. Herod on
the other hand stands in as a symbol of the powers and principalities that will
need to hear and see the wisdom of God as it is revealed in and through the
body of Christ – the church.

We needn’t wish upon a star. We simply need to follow the star that is the
light of God, which shines brightly into the darkness of this world. We can, therefore, as bearers of this good
news, go before our God with boldness and confidence and share in the radiance
that is God’s presence.

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I am a Disciples of Christ pastor, theologian, community activist, historian, teacher. I'm a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary with a M.Div. and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology. I'm the author of a number of books including
Out of the Office: A Theology of Ministry (Energion, 2017), Marriage in Interesting Times (Energion, 2016), and Freedom in Covenant (Wipf and Stock, 2015).